Mike LaFleur reached a boiling point Sunday night, and the way the Arizona Cardinals unraveled against the Detroit Lions made that easy to understand.
After a 45-21 loss at State Farm Stadium, LaFleur sounded nothing like the coach who had spent much of the season trying to stay steady through defeats. Arizona entered Week 5 at 1-3, and LaFleur had kept leaning on patience and process. This time, the frustration came through loud and clear.
The Cardinals opened the game with three straight three-and-outs on defense, then got picked apart by former Arizona offensive coordinator Drew Petzing. By the end of the night, Arizona’s offense had only managed a garbage-time touchdown to get past 20 points, and the performance across the board was rough.
"Yes, obviously not good enough. I know we're better than that, but that doesn't mean shit right now because that's not what we did today," LaFleur said post-game. "I have to be better for these guys."
That kind of response points to the bigger issue hanging over the team now: changes have to come from somewhere. LaFleur has spent the opening stretch of the season pushing back against a growing wave of frustration from Cardinals fans, but the results are stacking up fast.
The most obvious place for a shake-up is on the defensive side. Nick Rallis’ unit has now allowed four straight games with 30 points or more, and Sunday’s 45-point showing was another brutal step down the wrong road. LaFleur didn’t exactly offer a roadmap, but he acknowledged the need for fixes when asked about possible adjustments.
"There's a lot to fix right now and I respect the question. I understand that and I get it comes with the territory," LaFleur said when asked about making defensive changes.
"Right now my focus is me fixing everything and talking to these players, talking to these coaches and figuring out how this never ever happens again as long as I'm here."
That said, the schedule is about to get even less forgiving. Arizona’s upcoming stretch includes the Rams twice, plus the Broncos, Cowboys, Seahawks and Chiefs. Sean McVay’s offense needs no introduction, and the Chiefs, Cowboys and Seahawks all rank in the top ten in scoring offense.
If the Cardinals are looking for a different voice on defense, Teryl Austin is already there as a senior defensive coach, with years of experience coordinating a defense. At some point, that option may have to be considered.
The offense has its own mess to sort out. The Cardinals haven’t produced the kind of attack many expected from LaFleur’s system, and after trading away Marvin Harrison Jr., big plays and scoring chances have been hard to come by. The quarterback question is already hanging around, with many around the team wanting a move off Jacoby Brissett.
LaFleur, though, wasn’t interested in putting that on Brissett.
"I have way too many other things that I need to correct right now. (QB) Jacoby (Brissett) was not the problem. We were a problem as a team today and again, that starts with me," LaFleur said.
There’s value in a coach refusing to single out one player after a loss. That kind of finger-pointing usually signals a broken organization.
But there’s also a line between protecting players and letting the same issues keep surfacing. Arizona already went through a version of this under former head coach Jonathan Gannon last season, and the danger now is obvious: if the fixes don’t come, the conversations around the team only get bigger.
LaFleur is still early in his tenure, and there’s no question he brought a smart approach and some real promise into the job. He’s also got veteran coaches around him on both sides of the ball, and he hasn’t had much time to shape the roster or fully stamp the team with his own identity.
But the losses keep piling up, and that pressure doesn’t go away. This season was never going to be judged purely on the record, but if LaFleur can’t identify what’s broken and start correcting it, the questions around the Cardinals are only going to grow louder.
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Cardinals Suddenly Face A Trade Deadline Path Fans Wont Like
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Arizona has already shown a willingness to reshape the roster, too, after dealing Marvin Harrison Jr. to Houston. With the Nov. 10 deadline approaching, the question around the Cardinals is no longer whether they need to be aggressive, but whether that aggression turns into selling off more than fans would want to see. [Read more 🡒]